


No Happy Endings

by oriolegirl



Category: Sports Night
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2007-11-12
Updated: 2007-11-12
Packaged: 2017-10-17 11:05:36
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 975
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/176218
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/oriolegirl/pseuds/oriolegirl
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>"Casey's becoming self-destructive, Dan. You've got to do something before he starts to ruin my show."</p>
            </blockquote>





	No Happy Endings

**Author's Note:**

> Takes place about 3 months before the pilot episode. Written for [](http://www.livejournal.com/users/skidmo_fic/profile)[**skidmo_fic**](http://www.livejournal.com/users/skidmo_fic/)'s [Song Lyric Challenge](http://skidmo-fic.livejournal.com/29959.html); prompt: "Let’s pretend, happy end" ( _You Look So Fine_ \- Garbage). Many thanks, as always, to my fabulous beta [](http://www.livejournal.com/users/silver_cyanne/profile)[**silver_cyanne**](http://www.livejournal.com/users/silver_cyanne/).

  
Dan woke up to the sight of Casey sneaking out of bed and heading towards the bathroom. He was 100 percent sure that when he made it out to the kitchen, he'd find Casey scrambling eggs and popping bread in the toaster, pretending that he'd spent the night on Dan's sofa bed when in fact he'd spent the night with Dan in Dan's bed, sans clothing.

Dan could feel his chest tightening and his hands begin to shake just at the thought of it. He needed to end this madness or whatever it was that Casey was doing before he started falling, too.

~*~

Dan had been pretending not to see Dana's pointed and pleading looks for two days. He knew it was only a matter of time before she sent Natalie after him and that was something he'd really rather avoid. So he decided to bite the bullet and shuffled into her office, hands in his pockets.

"Hey, Dana. What's up?"

"Sit, Dan," she said, pointing to the chair in front of her desk.

Dan winced. You knew things were bad when Dana decided to remind you that she was the boss.

"You've got to do something about Casey."

Dan didn't bother asking her why he had to be the one to deal with Casey's behavior; it was the curse of working with your best friend. But he did feel the need to object.

"Dana -"

"Casey's becoming self-destructive, Dan. You've got to do something before he starts to ruin my show."

Dan knew the Casey situation was bad, but he hadn't realized anyone else knew it. "He's not becoming self-destructive, Dana. He already is. And he's trying to take me down with him."

"What do you -"

Dan stood up, cutting her off. "I'll talk to him, Dana. I don't think it'll have the result you're hoping for, but I'll talk to him."

"What's going on, Dan?"

"Do you really want to know, Dana?" She knew that Dan liked women but preferred men. But Dan didn't think she knew that Casey wasn't completely in denial about his own preferences. Casey looked at men just as often as Dan did. That was as far as it went unless he was drunk enough and angry enough about something, as he'd been a couple of weeks ago when Lisa had implied that she would sue for sole custody of Charlie. Then Casey did more than just look. It had only happened a handful of times in the years Dan had known him and Dan only knew because he'd been there when it happened.

Dana must have seen something in his eyes because she looked down at her desk. "Talk to him, Dan."

Dan smiled grimly. "Yeah, I'll do that."

~*~

Dan waited until they were back in their office after the show to have the promised talk with Casey. Pacing in front of the couch, he said, "So here's the thing."

"'So here's the thing,' Dan?" Casey mocked, leaning against the desk and crossing his arms. "You can't do any better than that?"

"So here's the thing," Dan said again, stopping in front of him. "I love you, Casey. But I can't do this any more," he said, gesturing between them.

"Do what, Dan?" Casey all but sneered and Dan had to look away. "This partnership thing? This friendship thing? What?"

That was the last straw for Dan. He could handle a lot from Casey. He'd been pretty understanding the last few months, what with Lisa kicking Casey out of the house and demanding a divorce. But the mocking of their friendship combined with Casey's recent behavior was it. Dan wasn't going to dance around it because he'd be damned if Casey took him back to that place he'd fallen to after Sam died, that place he'd sworn he'd never go back to.

Dan looked at him and said evenly, "This thing where you crawl into bed with me and in the morning pretend we didn't have sex the night before. I deserve better than that."

"Oh, you deserve better. Which self-help book did you get that line from?"

"I deserve better, Casey," he said quietly, "and so do you."

Casey seemed to deflate at that, looking away. "There are no happy endings, Dan."

"Evidence so far seems to suggest that, yes. But that doesn't mean we can't try."

Casey looked at Dan. "Just not with you."

Dan had few illusions about what a relationship between the two of them would be like. They made great friends -- they made excellent friends -- but anything more wouldn't work. Casey knew that, too. There was a reason they'd never fallen into bed before, despite Dan's drunken attempts after they first met. Because while Casey might, after much prodding, admit to finding men attractive, there was no way he would ever go so far as to have a relationship with a man. He was far too traditional and too far in the closet for the thought to ever enter his mind.

"Casey."

"I know. I'm sorry." Casey tried to smile, but it fell flat.

Dan moved forward and pulled Casey into a hug. "If I thought it would work," he said into Casey's shoulder. Casey held him tighter. "But I'm still your best friend. And Dana will kick your ass if you don't shape up."

Casey laughed a little. "Thanks, Danny."

He pulled away. "That's what best friends are for."

"And in the interests of keeping my best friend," Casey said, "I think I'll find somewhere else to stay."

"Casey -"

"No, Dan. Let me do this."

He knew Casey was right but he couldn't help feeling like he was kicking Casey when he was already down. "Ok. But you know where to find me."

Casey grinned. "There is no place on this green earth you can hide that I will not find you, Dan."  



End file.
